***I don't wear make-up, high heels or dresses. I don't go clubbing
or partying. I like snakes, bugs & dirt. If any of this is a
significant issue for you, please make use of the "back" button
& move on to the next profile.***

We now return to the regular scheduled profile:

*looks around* So this is the box I get to put my self in? I'm not
a contortionist...

Not only do we instinctively hide the most meaningful parts of
ourselves from others, but the most meaningful things that make up
our selves cannot be understood through words alone. It's all about
perspectives,
so why don't you tell me about myself? No? Mmk then, here it goes
(in no particular order)...

I enjoy basically any craftwork/creative endeavours. I spend the
majority of any free time I can get reading, creating, &/or out
in nature. I draw,
paint &
writepoetry to prevent my brain
from exploding & to remind me of my self.

I can appreciate simplicity, but I generally prefer the complex, complicated &
interconnected. I search for intensity & have an insatiable
curiosity.

I enjoy manipulating metaphors. I contradict myself A LOT but I can
usually come up with a logical explanation that I can at least
convince myself with. I'm an empathetic
misanthrope...how's that for contradiction? (Ask me & I'll
explain)

I sing when I'm certain no one is listening. I don't dance. I will
hug a random person if
I think they could use one...& yes, trees count as people. I
will also randomly give back massages to people if I think they
could use one...in this case, trees don't count.

I'm an IN(T/F)J. I spend a lot of time thinking about how I feel
& about how I think. Sometimes I get frustrated when people
misunderstand me, but I can also understand why they do because I
can't figure myself out half the time either.

In most situations I usually appear to be quiet & shy, but I
also have a tendency to be random, especially under the influence
of coffeine, more
so under the influence of sleep deprivation (which occurs often).
Yes, COFFEINE...no, I didn't spell it wrong. I hate sleeping. I
love coffee.
Think what you want,
they are completely unrelated...mostly...unrelated I tell you! I
love the smell of coffee at night & the smooth taste of it
anytime. I have a love/hate relationship with sleep, because while
I think there are better things to do than act comatose for 8
hours, dreaming can be good.

Apparently I step outside of my comfortable shell of introversion
if I feel passionately about something. I guess my intense need to
fight against what I feel is wrong overrides my intense desire to
avoid the rabble.

I'm frequently found star-gazing/sky-watching & I seek
solitude, which
is why I love the night. Being awake, outside, at night refreshes
& revitalizes me. I'm captivated by rain & I long for a
good storm. Rain at midnight seems to be most brilliant than at any
other time. I also love the ocean so I don't think I'll ever be
able to live anywhere not close to it or some other body of water
unless I'm surrounded by forests. I think part of it is because I
find myself desperate for fresh air when I spend too much time in
the city.

I came here for the tests, found the (original) matching system
fascinating & stayed for the interesting conversations.

***Be forewarned: if you hate tree-hugging dirt
worshippers (ie. ecogeeks, otherwise known as
environmentalists) then move along, quickly. Also, if you resemble
anything like the polar opposite of such a person, move along much
more quickly & take your Hummer with you.***

I might as well get this out in the open right away. I'm a
"No,
Rarely, Never" (smoking, drinking, drugs) kind of person &
if I do feel like interacting with people, it's generally of the
same bunch. I suppose I should mention some of the types I usually
don't get along with for extensive periods of time, (though I can
be friendly with most): capitalists, the closed-minded, the
immature (not child-like, that's okay, childish is not), those
wrapped up in the media, fashion & fads, people who dislike
learning & those with no manner of respect (for other people or
the rest of the living world).

This warning label is cleverly disguised as a user profile.

---~---~---~---~---~---~---~---~---
OKCupid Now in French! (Hah, you thought you could take this away
from me, OKC!)

Searching for balance, trying to find my self. I
thought I had it all figured out then I ran away from my self to go
find out who I was supposed to be. I'm still discovering who I am
& who I can be; I don't expect it to be a short trip.

Just graduated with an Associate degree in Environmental Studies on
the mainland, moved to Victoria on August 1st, and I'll be going to
UVic in the fall for a double major in Geography and Environmental Studies. I
also want to take some courses in Forest Sciences, Ecological Restoration, &
Ethnobotany/Anthropology. I'm also fascinated
by Philosophy
& Forensics,
& interested in Criminology, so I am trying to fit
some courses in those areas as well. Learning is my life (which stems from
my intense curiosity). I'm leaning more towards environmental
stewardship than law enforcement for many reasons, but mostly
because of one complicated reason that I won't even attempt to
explain here.

I'm trying to get my passion, ambition, drive & focus back. It
took me so long to realize I lost all of it & now I'm taking
even longer to figure out a method of turning myself back into me
again.

Eventually I believe I will study something...no, I mean my career
will have to do with studying things...no, I mean studying
everything; I'll be a researcher. The plan is to have a career
doing forest ecology & biodiversity research/restoration in
old-growth forests, though I'd settle for studying that on the side
& having another career...I'm leaving that open to possibility.

The only place I have ever wanted to visit (outside of Canada, as
Haida Gwaii
calls to me) is Ireland, though recently I've been on a
Belize kick (there was an ethnobotany field school at the
college recently, based in Belize, so it's probably just a phase).
There is so much to explore & beauty to see in my own backyard
so I never had the "grass is greener on the other side of the
fence" desire to go anywhere else, despite my curiosity. I get
excited when I learn something new about the place I call home. I
like knowing why it always rains here (on the coast), why there are
deserts in certain areas of the province, why plants grow in some
areas & not others. The natural history of British Columbia
fascinates me.

I also want to try & improve my health (& get back in
shape) while going to school. I plan on spending a lot of my future
surrounded by untouched wilderness, which means I'll have to
find some creative ways to get to those places so
I better make sure I'm relatively fit...Learning Yoga is also on
the agenda, though. Exploring the island on foot is as well.

I used to spend all of my extra time volunteering. Currently I only
volunteer at a local science center when I have time...& I
pitch in with a local environmental group occasionally. Once a
year, I volunteer at a writers' conference for a week.

When I'm not working or in class, I spend my summers doing
research in the
forests &
grasslands in the B.C. Interior.

"Good" is relative...I'm better at some things than other things,
I'm better at those things than other people are & other people
are better at them than I am.

Some say I'm good at being stubborn & difficult. Others say
over-analyzing everything. I suppose I'd say thinking about things
from different perspectives, being curious & self-aware. I'm
pretty passionate about gaining new knowledge & anything that
piques my curiosity or leaves me feeling inspired I tend to do relatively well
with.

This question is too awkward, how am I supposed to know what other
people think or notice?

If I weren't me, I would probably notice my eyes first. I've been
told they can be intense & they do change colour with
my moods & surroundings.

If I'm happy it may be my smile. If I was someone tall, I'd notice
how (incredibly) short I am...If I'm bending over then no one would
see my eyes first.

See my problem with this question? Each person will see some
different feature first...& it depends on the situation, &
their perspective.

Okay, putting my animosity towards the wording of these questions
aside, at work I've been accused of being a "people-person"...if I
wasn't at work I would've (metaphorically) slapped them...most
other times people mistake me for being angry because if I've found
something that has caught my interest or piqued my curiosity (which
happens a lot) I focus intently on it...apparently my intent,
focused face looks like an angry she-bear when someone gets too
close to her cubs...

...Someone told me I'm a Biologist with a Geographer's mind & I
found it exceptionally fitting...

Oh, my favourite compliment that I've received: "Your smile is an
energy source," though this probably shouldn't go under "the first
thing people notice" as it has been pointed out to me that I don't
smile so frequently.

Much of this section really should just be skimmed over...as it's
probably the least important, though I see its usefulness, however
limited in its depths (Omg! You like CSI/The Princess Bride/Bacon
too? It must be true love!). The reasons behind someone's favourite
things are more important.

(A) I have too many favourite books to name them all here. But when it
comes to fiction some authors I love that come to mind would be
Michael Slade, Thomas Harris, Kim Stanley Robinson, John Case, Dan
Brown, Nevada Barr, Michael Connelly & Kurt Vonnegut. I enjoy
any book that makes me question life or opens my eyes to different
perspectives.

One amazing book that I've read recently is Natural Flights of the
Human Mind by Clare Morall. It's one of those good books that you
don't realize is a good book until you're too far into the story to
stop, so you read it all in one sitting. Another book I enjoyed
immensely was Land of the Living by Nicci French. The Silver Key by
H.P.
Lovecraft is one of my most recent favourite pieces of
fictional work. One of my favourite short stories is Lukundoo by
Edward Lucas White.

(B)I can't stand most chick flicks or horror movies where the only
purpose of the movie is to inflict terror. Though a decent horror
movie that has a smooth story line, believable characters &
still manages to give you nightmares is great. I will also watch
practically any movie once if someone else is watching it & I
happen to be spending time with them.

I generally (there are a few exceptions) don't enjoy movies based
on books. I'm the type of person who will try to read the book
before watching the movie (if I'm aware that the movie was based on
a book), knowing full well it will probably ruin the movie for me.
I would rather have a movie (that will probably be terrible anyway)
ruined instead of a book ruined by a movie. I won't get into the
details, but if you're a book-before-movie person, you know what
I'm getting at.

I enjoy movies that have you guessing the whole way through &
you can't figure out what's going on until the last few minutes (or
you have to watch over & over again before you get it
all)...& I'm disappointed that there are so few of them.

The most intriguing film I've watched is both a short film & a
dance film, *Asylum of Spoons*. It was
grand.

I was also happily surprised by Les Miserables; I was not expecting
much of it, but I actually really enjoyed it.

(C)Music is
something I don't think I could feel alive without. I enjoy most
music besides rap & twangy country & I don't generally
listen to jazz or blues, but under the right circumstances I enjoy
them (say if I'm at a bistro or something that has live music, I
don't mind, & often enjoy most of it).

I hate being one of those people who say "I like everything but rap
& country" because I do enjoy listening to some songs from
those genre, but GENERALLY I just don't listen to them as I find
them lacking of originality & creativity...though if you mix
the two together you'd get an amusing combination of "My dog got
run over by your ride, after you did my wife over and over again in
my brass bed, so tonight I wanna cry & I hope you die a slow
& painful death while it's raining on Sunday."

(F) The only thing I can think of is Sushi, but maybe Thai or Indian food for a
treat. Though, I prefer fresh fruit (especially green grapes,
tangerines & berries) & veggies to any sort of processed
version & I'll take a wrap over a sandwich any day. I don't eat
much meat at all when I'm in the city, but when I go back home I
eat wild meat, mostly fish. The term I'd call my diet is
"flexitarian." Oh, but if Coffee is considered a food, then that
would be my absolute favourite.

One thing I'll never eat again, though I've tried, is uni (sea
urchin).

(S) Favourite Scents: freshly squeezed lime, freshly baked bread,
cilantro, mint, lavender, sagebrush, Petrichor, rain, forests, ocean...I
almost want to say my favourite sense is the ability to smell...but
any sort of intense stimulation of any one of the senses is
amazing. If I had to give up one of the five senses, I think it
would be sight.

"...And what you do not know, you will fear. What one fears, one
destroys."

"The time will soon be here when my grandchild will long for the
cry of a loon, the flash of a salmon, the whisper of spruce
needles, or the screech of an eagle. But he will not make friends
with any of these creatures and when his heart aches with longing
he will curse me. Have I done all to keep the air fresh? Have I
cared enough about the water? Have I left the eagle to soar in
freedom?"

~Chief Dan George

(X) Favourite T.V. Shows: I used to watch X-Files, Psyfactor,
Mysterious Ways, God, the Devil & Bob, Dead Like Me, Whose Line
is it Anyway?, Holmes on Homes, Supernatural & House. I was
watching Criminal Minds and Dr. Who for awhile, but not
so much any more.

I rarely watch T.V. at all now, (I don't ever watch cable, I only
have some seasons of shows on DVD) but if I do it's usually
Haven or Republic of
Doyle. Oh, & apparently I like Joss Whedon's work (Dollhouse
& Firefly).

...Everything & Nothing & Being & Time. At the same
time. All the time.

This question is even worse than the "self-summary" box. How am I
supposed to fit all of my thoughts, ideas & memories into a
box?

Well, one random thing I keep working over in my brain is
"Justified true belief" as a definition of knowledge.

I wouldn't say I spend a lot of time thinking about this one, but
sporadically I think of how awesome it would be if the Religion
options on here were changed to previous options like: "No,"
"Sometimes," "Rarely," "Desperately," "Never," "Only When
Drinking," or "Trying to Quit."

I think about many things from as many different perspectives as
possible to come up with an answer that will satisfy my curiosity
at the time.

Right now I'm trying to define what I believe in one term. Am I
agnostic? Atheist? An Agnostic Theist? Definitions that are closer
would be Irreligious (associating organized
religion with negative qualities, but still hold spiritual beliefs) or Ignostic ("God exists" is
inconclusive until further evidence is met & the term "God" has
a definite meaning). Another one that is pretty close is
Metaphysical Naturalism ("nature is all there is & all basic
truths are truths of nature."). Maybe an Irreligious
Ignostic Metaphysical Naturalist...

I've been casually studying existentialism, so I'm thinking
about life a lot, more specifically human existence. I ran to
science when religion failed me, saying my curiosity would lead me
to the devil, & it served me well enough to bring me to
college, but I found the possibility of the missing pieces in
Philosophy.

I'm open-minded when it comes to spirituality & religion, but I
also think that organized religion has a tendency to relieve people
of the burden of thinking for themselves. It frustrates me like
nothing else when people use their religion (or any world-view) as
an excuse to not take responsibility for their own actions. Even
worse are those who believe in their religion (or world-view) only
when it's convenient for them. Here are my thoughts on people like
that:

"God told me I needed to kill someone, so I had to do it."
ME: "But God also told you to jump off a bridge, why didn't you
feel you had to do that?"
"Because if I did that, then I couldn't kill that person"
ME: "So in that case, maybe God was actually telling you that you
had the choice to
NOT kill that person"
"But...then I'd be dead"
ME: "Well...that's a really good option as well."

...People in general wear down my soul, but I know there are
individual persons out there that would fascinate me, rekindle my
spirit & my opinion of humanity, so I hold on to the
possibility that we'll cross paths one day. I wouldn't go as far as
hope...Hope is a fickle & cruel...mistress.

I often wonder why & how is it that we think (& if other
beings think to such an extent that we do, as well). I also ponder
about the processes behind thought & the idiosyncrasies of the
English language. I also occasionally wonder if I would not be so
contradicting to myself if my native tongue was a different
language than English, as I'd have more/different words to describe
my thoughts & feelings. Unfortunately I'm a bumbling idiot when
it comes to learning other languages, so I can't test that
hypothesis...This is one main reason why I draw, as words alone
often can't sum up how I feel or what I wish to express.

Like I said, my curiosity gets the better of me, so I spend a lot
of time thinking about a lot of things. I lose track of time (&
depth perception) when I'm lost in thought...or when I've lost my
glasses, wondering where I put them. I walk around bumping into
walls & tripping over penguins like a bumbling idiot, until I
finally find them exactly where I knew I put them but I just
couldn't see that they were there.

Sometimes I have so many unrelated thoughts (usually half-formed)
racing through my head that they crash into each other (it's a
great visual which always amuses me; high-speed train-of-thought
crashes in my mind) & I can rarely make sense of any of them.
My thoughts often contradict each other as well, but I usually can
come up with convincing justifications for their conflicting
natures...or at least I like to tell myself that.

I think a lot about goals & my future. Yes, I'm sure many do,
but I should admit that sometimes my obsession with plans &
plan b's get out of hand. I've been trying to figure out how to
reach my goal of being self-sufficient, living off the land as much
as possible (ie wild harvested food, earth homes, renewable energy)
but still keeping the basics like deodorant & hot showers. My
dream of being able to live off the land like my ancestors was sort
of shot down when I first realized the state of the ecosphere &
what we're (humanity) doing to it...which is why I'm pursuing the
life I am now. I mentioned I was stubborn right?

On a related thought, the destruction of our ecosphere (ie the part of the planet
that hosts all life) through mass over-consumption, greed &
carelessness bothers me more deeply than anything else.

Lately I've been getting distracted easily and my memory... O0o is
that a penny? Hmm, I think I want sushi...Oh, hey it's
raining!...What was I saying?

Reading a book,
sketching,
writing poems,
watching the rain
fall, watching a movie, listening to music, rallying,
gardening or
going for a long walk (possibly in the rain, or with my camera in
hand) with no goal/destination in mind. Occasionally I'll have a 3
a.m. coffee with a friend. Sometimes I'll be playing video games,
though not so much anymore.

Well, that's what a Friday night generally used to look like, but
usually I'm standing in solidarity with an environmental or
Indigenous group...so that applies to any night I'm not working,
volunteering,
rallying, doing school work or research.

Which brings up another thing I was trying to avoid mentioning
because it just gets sticky, but I've realized is too important to
me to not bring up. If you are against people fighting for
decolonization, or you harbour
discriminatory thoughts against First Nations/Aboriginal/Native
American/Indigenous peoples, move along to a different profile,
swiftly. We will not get along. Ever. Go now.

Update: I just moved to the island, so there is no typical Friday,
or any other day unless you count unpacking and working on not
getting lost.

Back to the question at hand.

What's so special about Friday nights anyways? The stars shine on all the other nights
too!

If you're wondering if I enjoy partying (as Friday is a typical
night to party) then no, I dislike parties, clubs & bars. If
you're wondering what I do on the first night of my day(s) off,
then it's usually doing things that I didn't have a chance to
accomplish on the days I had
work/class/research/volunteering.

As this is a public profile, once I admit it here it will no longer
be private, will it? If you want to know something just ask me and
I may or may not answer it.

OK, OK...I despise this formation of words strung together in a
fashion that's supposed to be of some resemblance of my self for
others to peruse and try to decide if they would want to interact
with me. I'm terrible at keeping in touch, no matter how
interesting the person or conversation and I'm mostly here to pass
time by doing meaningless tests. There is no point in reading this
profile to get to know me, as the me I pretend to know and show you
will be different from the person you believe you may know.

...If this is a trap to try and get me to admit that I have some
hot fantasy that maybe someone else in the world shares, so if they
read this then they'll have a sudden urge to message me so we can
have some hot cybersex, then it's not going to work. I'm not here
to find a "date"/someone to have sex with.

...

OK, OK, OK! I know this is supposed to be juicy and all, so I'll
write something of that sort to amuse a random stranger:

I joined an online-dating site. There, happy?

No...I didn't think so. Alright...I stalk people's profiles who
have a high match % with me so I can see what tests they've taken
to discover interesting new tests to do. I then rate them almost
solely by their personality, mostly so I can easily find their
profile again if I need more tests to do.

Clowns...they're inherently creepy. Come on, now! Whoever thought
it was a good idea to let their child take candy & balloons
from an old man, wearing a disguise & hiding his face with a
permanent smile?

You want to verbally maul me for my opinions on controversial
topics...

You have a new perspective to share with me...

You want to harass me for having such a long profile...

I missed a 'u' in favourite, colour or any other word that should
have a 'u' in it (Regardless of what the generic American
dictionary states!) & you would like to point it out...

You're wondering what hippopotomonstrosesquipedaliophobia
means (& don't be scared that I've used words like abstruse
& hippopotomonstrosesquipedaliophobia; I'm not a
sesquipedalian, there are just some large, obscure words that I
love & sometimes I wish the English language was still
colourful & exciting in every-day conversation)...

If the idea of spending your entire life on the capitalistic
treadmill in a crowded, polluted city gives you nightmares. Or
conversely, the idea of small self-sufficient, sustainable
communities, that fit in with the local environment (or similar
notion) makes you happy inside...

You agree that Petrichor is not only the best thing
ever, it is the best word ever...

You can convince me there is something better in this world than
Petrichor...

You think OKC should revise these profile questions too (especially
this one)...

Really, almost anything goes. You may message me & I might feel
like responding, but I may not. If the question was worded "I'd
like you to message me if" then this would've been much easier...or
even better "Don't message me if..."

On that note, don't message me if you're going to proselytize (even
atheists can be preachy). I'm very open-minded but I can't stand
people preaching their world-views, be it religious, political or
other belief. Don't force your beliefs on me & I won't force
mine on you, though I'm interested in discussing & comparing
different beliefs...

If you fit into any one of those categories (or any other for that
matter), you've made it this far & you haven't been frightened
away yet, then maybe you should consider messaging me...